Primal
by RhiannonoftheMoon
Summary: [Nom for Best Lemon IY FG 2nd Q 06]Kagome is the victim of an unusual attack and looses an important part of herself. Driven by instinct, she searches for the thing her body craves…and takes him. Dark, Lemons. On hold for now.
1. Hunger

Edited by thymecat

A/N: This gets a little weird and is more than a little hentai. If you like unadulterated romance, you might want to steer clear. It's rated M for a reason: adult situations, violence, gore, language, etc. I've edited out the lemon (marked with 'XXX')– if you want to read the unedited version (and are of age), see my profile and follow the links to my MMorg account.

For all of you who are wondering why this isn't an update to "Darkness", please unbunch your panties. I'm working on it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Primal

Chapter 1 - Hunger

Kagome glared at the demoness over Inuyasha's shoulder. Really, she was far too pretty for her own good; the embodiment of voluptuousness, she curved in all the right places and though she looked toned and muscular, she still managed to jiggle and bounce as she sauntered across the path, her hips swaying in syncopated rhythm with her shiny mane of deep purple hair, her pale violet eyes sensuously hooded by long purple lashes. Much to Kagome's escalating ire, the demoness paused, shifting her weight and thrusting a perfect hip to the side, and devoured Inuyasha with her eyes.

Bitch,' Kagome wanted to growl and leaned a little closer to him. She couldn't get much closer perched on his back, but she had to show this little hussy that Inuyasha was off limits. If he wouldn't put aside Kikyou for her, Kagome, then he certainly couldn't be interested in this floozy.

Inuyasha's fingers loosened on her thighs, his withdrawal of support momentarily surprising as she slid off of his back with a quiet yelp. Oh, did she feel like sitting him. Her hands clenched at her sides, her glare now directed at his red, uncaring back. When he took two jerky steps forward, she began to get a little worried.

"Inuyasha?"

The demoness' eyes flashed to meet hers, telegraphing a silent signal to back off. Kagome would have none of that. "Hey! Just who do you think you are?" she snapped at the foul temptress.

"Kagome?" Sango glanced at her friend, curious as to the reason of her outburst when it was obvious that the woman didn't seem to be an immediate threat. Miroku pushed past her, and she was about to clobber him when she realized that he hadn't touched her inappropriately. In fact, he seemed oblivious to her presence, his attention fixed solely on the demoness in their path. Sango saw red and swung Hiraikotsu reflexively, which connected with his skull with a hollow thunk. He hit the dirt without a word, and Sango felt a momentary pang of guilt; after all, he hadn't even spouted his bear my children' line, not that she doubted he would. Call her actions proactive. She rounded on the demoness and joined in Kagome's indignation. "Keep your distance, youkai."

The female didn't spare her a glance; instead, her violet eyes fixed on Inuyasha, who took another couple of steps toward her.

"Inuyasha, osuwari!" He hit the dirt with a grown but without his usual protests: there was definitely something wrong with him. Kagome pulled the bow off of her shoulder and nocked an arrow with practiced ease. "I'm warning you! Stay away from him!"

Sniffing the air, the purple-haired youkai glanced from the prone hanyou to Kagome, her eyes narrowing as the arrowhead began to glow faintly pink. Hoping that the demoness would take the hint and hit the road, Kagome almost breathed a sigh of relief when she abruptly vanished in a wisp of sweet-smelling steam. Almost.

Sango yelled and flung Hiraikotsu toward Kagome, missing her by a hair and cutting through the youkai rapidly reforming behind her friend's back. Gone again like mist evaporating in the morning sun, the bone boomerang passed through the demoness unhindered and traveled back to its mistress. Stretching her hand above her head, Sango reached to catch it when she heard Kagome's strangled shriek and a lancing pain across her back. She fumbled the handle of her enormous boomerang and it fell on her, knocking her onto the ground and into unconsciousness.

Kagome winced as her friend was pummeled by her own weapon and let her arrow fly at the demoness now hissing at her. She easily avoided it, her movements fluid, graceful, and much too quick for Kagome's human eyes to follow. A slight scuffling noise and a low growl sounded from her right, and she shot a glance at the hanyou as he pulled himself out of the dirt, a vacant look on his face as he tried to track the demoness with his golden eyes. Kagome tossed her unruly black hair over her shoulder, sorely wishing that they hadn't left Shippo with Kirara at the village. At least _he_ wouldn't have succumbed to this creature's allure.

Faster than a blink of her eye, the youkai had appeared behind the hanyou, her long teeth dangerously close to his neck. He turned his head as if drawn on a wire and she blew in his face. His eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped like a stone.

Afraid and more than a little incensed, Kagome stomped her foot and nocked another arrow, only to have the demoness disappear once more. This was Bad; she could be anywhere. Her aura was dust motes dancing in the slanting rays of the sun, not necessarily evil but not having her best interests in mind. She felt a sudden surge behind her and, recognizing the gathering of youki, took off into the woods that towered over the path, hoping to draw the female youkai away from her downed friends.

Kagome knew that the demoness had given chase, as her youki swirled and pulsed close behind her, but a quick glance over her shoulder revealed nothing but an encroaching fog. Pushing her legs to go faster, Kagome clutched her bow and arrow close, willing her purifying energy to charge the objects for when the demoness decided to quit playing with her and attack. Sparing another quick peek over her shoulder, she was the source of her own undoing for she didn't see the edge of the cliff until she was almost upon it, windmilling her arms and grasping at the trunk of a sapling that was bravely clinging to the eroding soil. The very solid form of the demoness hit her moments later and Kagome barely had time to thrust her weapons between them before twin needles of pain seared into her neck and their momentum hurdled them over the edge of the cliff.

Her teeth still buried in the hapless girl's neck, the demoness dissolved into ash to be carried away on the rushing wind. A strange lethargy rushed through Kagome, numbing her mind and limbs as she screamed through her freefall, and she stopped screaming before the inevitable collision with the ground, letting the wind roaring in her ears be the last sound she heard in this life. This isn't so bad,' she thought groggily just before losing consciousness. I wonder if it will hurt when I land.'

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha heard the scream echo through his head before truly realizing what it was. All that filled his mind's eye was a demoness of indescribable beauty and intoxicating scent who wanted him to caress her supple flesh and make her _scream…_

"Fuck!" he pushed off the ground to his unsteady feet, shaking his head roughly to clear it of the lustful fog that had somehow claimed it. What the hell? Where was Kagome? Why had she screamed? Casting about the air with his inuhanyou nose, he caught the scent of the girl leading off the path and into the forest, but it was blurred by another aroma that went straight to his loins: the scent of that demoness. With a quick glance at his unconscious friends and an adjustment of his hakama, he chased the scents into the forest.

He didn't have far to run: the trail led him directly to the edge of a tall cliff. Frantically, he glanced around, desperate for some sign that their paths had detoured, but he had made no mistake. The trail ended here, and there was no pale face staring up at him as she clung desperately to one of the roots growing from the cliff's sheer wall. The precipice was barren, stretching interminably long before disappearing into the forest.

"Kagome!" he bellowed into the uncaring afternoon, his ears straining to catch an answering shout of his own name. Silence pressed down on him, wilting his ears and his proud shoulders.

"KAGOME!" She couldn't be dead. He didn't accept it! Backtracking, he followed the scent back to his rousing companions, shaking his head mutely at their concerned questions, and then traced it back to the cliff. Sango and Miroku were on his heels, unwelcome distractions in his vain quest for something, anything that told him Kagome had not gone over that cliff.

But the proof was in the air, in the dirt, embedded in the minute drops of water that clung to the leaves of the trees: Kagome had come this way and was now gone. He followed her scent trail, laden with fear and covered by the demoness' and now his scents, to its terminus, and then fell to his knees in the mulch and stared into the emptiness. His companions were begging him to explain, shouting and crying as they tore at their clothes and hair. He simply shook his head, unable to force the words from his constricting chest, unable to wrap his brain around the dire repercussions, unable to hear over the screaming in his brain. It was impossible! She couldn't be gone…but she wasn't here. He had been weak and failed her and now she was dead.

XxxxxxxxX

Hunger. Vicious, gnawing hunger clawed at her insides, but for what, she couldn't fathom. A part of her knew that she'd never been hungry like this before, and that something was very, very wrong. Another part, much more vocal and insistent, clamored that it didn't care. It wanted! Now! But what?

Uncurling from the fetal position in which she had been lying, she stretched languorously and rolled her shoulders, enjoying the frisson of power that swept through her body. She was a hunter, obviously, built for speed and agility. Claws tipped her fingers and sharp fangs pressed into her lower lip. The hunger stirred within her, almost painful in its urgency, and a honeyed sweetness filled her mouth.

Now, to find her prey.

Gliding through the woods on padded feet, the darkness of the night-shrouded forest hiding nothing from her sharp eyes, she moved as one with the shadows, the joy of running pulsing in her blood. She almost hoped that whatever she was hunting would provide a good chase; this was simply too much fun. Of course, that was assuming that it had legs or wings to flee; she still had no idea what it was she craved.

A quick search of her memory presented no clues. In fact, it seemed to a very small, quiet part of her that quite a bit was missing, such as why she woke up alone in a forest and why running through said forest was so easy. Irrelevant!' her vocal part quelled the little voice. She had to agree: she would feed and then ponder less pressing matters.

Like your name?' the little voice asked one more question.

Whatever,' she agreed.

The terrain became steep and rugged, and though she enjoyed the wind whipping through her hair as she leapt from one jagged outcropping to another, she slowly became aware that she could move much more quickly if she simply changed shape. Mid leap, she let her body dissolve into the humid night, flowing over the rocks and fallen trees like a current of water or a stiff breeze. It tickled her senses, this new method of travel, for she was able to taste and feel the shape and texture of each surface that she touched with her amorphous, insubstantial form, but could neither hear nor see anything.

Spilling into a grassy basin, she pooled around a startled creature covered in course fur and quivering in fright. The taste of its fear and thrum of its heart through her floating particles stroked her hunger. No more than a bag of flesh, bones, and blood, she swirled around it and moved on. It was of no use to her. However, the encounter told her that she wanted something living, something in particular. No dumb beast would do. She passed over many such living things, some mortal and some youkai, and each being reinforced the notion that her hunger was directed and specific, and that she would know it when she felt it.

The anticipation was building, sending little charges of electricity through her ethereal form, and the sizzle of insects caught within her delighted and teased her to no end. With this newfound discovery, she enveloped a softly furred youkai before it could scurry out of her path, pouring her essence into its open nose and mouth and letting her excited bursts of energy tear at the creature's soft inner flesh. Absorbing the youki and fluids released in its pain, she reveled in her small gain of power. It did little to assuage her hunger, and deep within her roiling mass of instinct and savage desire, she thought that she should be horrified, but it did take the edge off.

Warmth tingled at the furthest tendrils of the vapor that was her body, along with the most heavenly flavor that she could ever remember tasting. Her hunger flared and raged within her, and she stopped, drawing the tiny motes of herself back into a solid shape. As she coalesced, the night bombarded her with sound, the crackle of flames, the song of crickets, the call of night birds a cacophony of noise that crescendoed to a dull roar to her newly-formed ears. Blinking slowly in the darkness, her eyes focused on a small fire surrounded by several creatures; three youkai and one mortal. The fragrance for which she burned emanated from one of those beings, and she extended her silent call to her prey, touching each being in turn until one of them turned his head toward her.

Ah, the lovely one with the shimmering moonbeam hair and glowing yellow eyes. She was pleased.

The youkai rose to his feet from his relaxed seated position, eyes trained on her position as he walked toward her, ignoring the pleas of his companions, his hair gracefully billowing behind his back and refracting the light of the fire. She stepped backward, slowly at first, making sure that he would follow. As he approached, and her confidence increased that he would go where she led, she quickened her pace, moving noiselessly over the forest floor and trailing a wake of sweet-smelling bait for her prey. His speed increased to match hers, until they were both flying streaks of power, zipping between massive trunks and dense underbrush. He was fast and powerful, and she pushed herself to her limit to stay ahead of him, and could hardly manage it. Grinning to herself and feeling the hunger coiling tightly in her gut, she put on a final burst of speed and then stopped abruptly, spinning in place to meet his rush head-on. He stopped just short of running her over, glaring down with amber eyes swimming with anger, aggression, and lust, his soft breathing showing no signs of the furious chase on which she had led him.

Inhaling deeply, she watched his delicate nostrils flare and felt the rumble of a growl in his chest as he fought against her call. With a smile, she blew in his face, a gusty blast of saccharine venom that hit his nose and robbed him of his consciousness, sending him to the ground in an undignified heap.

Her smile spread across her face as she eyed her prize, running clawed fingers over the contours of his face, tracing the magenta stripes that adorned his cheeks, brushed away silky bangs to reveal the blue crescent crest on his noble forehead. Yes, he was magnificent; he had what she wanted.

XxxxxxxX

For the first time in his life, Sesshomaru, Dog General and Lord of the Western Lands, found himself in a most perturbing situation. He was lying flat on his back, devoid of armor and unarmed, uninjured (as far as he could tell) but unable to move…and scandalously perched upon his hips, short skirt riding high on her thighs, was his half-brother's wench.

Well, she _looked_ like the girl; she was wearing the same indecent clothing, she had the same face (except for the elven ears) and he could smell the shards of the Shikon jewel under her shirt. However, she now had startlingly (for a human) purple hair, shimmering violet eyes and sported a pair of wickedly pointed fangs that she was now baring at him in a sensuous smile as she bounced lightly on his groin. How odd.

He knew, distantly, that he should be furious and desire the blood of this insolent wench to drench his claws. However, every time he tried to fix on that thought, the anger would dissolve, thanks to her pert derrière hitting his lap. The most negative emotion he could muster was confusion and astonishment, two states of being that did not please the youkai lord, but were a far cry from the wrath to which he vaguely felt entitled.

A cloying sweetness floated to his sensitive nose, spiraling through his senses and clouding his mind in a singularly perplexing manner. Blinking rapidly, as if to dispel the fragrance that was wreaking havoc on his brain, he tried to ignore the twitching of his cock as she continued to bounce. And her soft bottom wasn't the only thing bouncing; with each little hop, her breasts rebounded almost hypnotically under her shirt. He would liked to have stabilized those tender mounds, if only he could have moved his hand, a fact that served to remind him that he was not in this position of his own free will. No, he would rather have her under him.

The girl leaned forward, bathing his face with sugary breath that once again sent his mind spinning in giddy circles so that he didn't complain when her tongue snaked out to lick the magenta stripes on his face. In fact, he quite liked how her breasts pressed against his chest, the nipples hard nubs through the fabric of her shirt. What had gotten into this female? Had she tired of his brother? His loss is my gain…'

They were disgraceful, these thoughts that clamored in his brain and sent blood to his hardening shaft that was now being ground by the heated place between her legs. This assault on his person was nothing short of infuriating, but his body and mind seemed to insist on betraying him. Her tongue had wandered its way to his ear, where it now traced the pointed ridge, and he groaned, wondering what her intentions could be and if he would indeed be ravished by this bizarre female.

He wanted to smack himself (or her), or at least make a disparaging comment, but had to settle for growling, half in warning and half in longing as her fingers slid under the collars of his kimonos. He tongue was as paralyzed as the rest of his body: the only things he was able to do was blink, breathe, and make feral, inarticulate sounds. However, it didn't look like she was here for conversation.

The fact that she was attempting a seduction, and that it was working with ruthless effectiveness, was turning his thoughts into a tangled mass of knots. His fruitless efforts to pinpoint the cause of the wench's behavior and his own immobility and wakening lust were scattered by the laving of her tongue and the roll of her pelvis over his silk-covered groin. Perhaps he should cease his mind's wanderings and just go with it? He had always been in the dominant position when he chose to rut, but he didn't seem to have much say in the matter. Could be interesting. After all, he hadn't tasted a female's flesh in…far too long.

Her fingers had pushed his kimono and under shirt over his shoulders, branding a fiery path with her tongue down his neck and over her chest, her fangs scoring his skin and leaving fine trails of blood that she would retrace and lap up. Unable to participate, he could only groan and twitch as she explored his body, the shallow wounds she left tingling as some unknown substance seeped into his bloodstream. He nose told him that it was the same sweet stuff that he smelled on her breath but his body was uncaring as the venom ignited in his veins and the blood rushed to pool in his loins.

He barked as her sharp teeth clamped down on a nipple, teasing it roughly with her teeth as her hands glided down the carved planes of his stomach. Scratching claws and a whisper of silk told them that she'd breached his hakama, and suddenly her moist, fabric-covered warmth was much more immediate over his throbbing need. She was wearing entirely too much clothing for his taste, but since he couldn't do anything about it at the moment, he growled, trying to capture her swirling violet eyes and communicate his desire with a look alone.

Her fangs flashed in a pretty snarl as her eyes locked onto his, but she seemed to understand, pulling the strange shirt over her head to reveal a wonder of stretched lace and delicate boning cupping her full breasts. This young morsel was a surprise around ever corner and Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel a spark of jealousy for the fabric that rested where his hand so desperately longed to be. She arched her back as she twisted an arm behind her, pushing her breasts up so that the hardened peaks pointed to the sky and then they were free, bobbing unhindered as she wiggled her backside against him. It was almost too much to bear in his frustrated state and he tried to buck his hips against her, but they refused to budge. He resorted to growling again, a low rumble that he was sure would vibrate against the little nub that she was pressing against him.

She threw her head back, shaking her long, purple hair, and stood, quickly stepping out of the skirt and undergarment. Feasting on him with her eyes, drinking in his scent as her tiny nostrils flared, she bared her fangs again, licking her lips with sensuous brushes of her tongue. What was she waiting for? He twitched involuntarily under her scrutiny, desperate for her warmth now that she had withdrawn it.

She dropped out of his line of vision, and no amount of eyestrain on his part could catch sight of her. Oh, she was still there, he knew from the heady smell of her arousal that she hadn't left. Her motives became clear as his shoes were tugged from his feet and his hakama fully removed. Sharp teeth bit into the soft skin behind his knee, drawing blood that she sucked into her mouth before nipping up the inside of his thigh…

XXX (mature content edited out)

Collapsing onto her and panting harshly, he felt his beast recede, more content and satisfied that it had been a long time. The female under him was calming too, still twitching from her release but no longer trying to bite him, so he released her hands. Her little claws rose to gently graze his sides, tracing his ribs as her eyelids lowered to hood glazed violet eyes. Purring quietly, she lapped at the wound she had left in his neck, cleaning and numbing it with her sugary saliva. With a pleased rumble, he withdrew his teeth from her neck laved the jagged punctures.

Each wound they had left on each other, they tenderly licked clean, twining about the other's body with a sleepy languor. Satisfied when neither of them was still bleeding, they curled against each other's bodies and slept.

XxxxxxxX

She woke as dawn stained the sky with a bashful blush, snuggled against the male she'd chosen. He'd survived her affections and for that she was glad, but he had a willful streak that he'd demonstrated after and it left her a little concerned about the months to come. Now that she had what she'd so desperately craved, she knew what it was she'd desired. A male's help would be crucial by the end, but she didn't really need him now. However, now that she had him, she was loath to let him go. He was a particularly fine specimen despite his missing arm and claim of dominance at the end of their mating, which she hadn't really expected.

Pulling out of his grasp, she sat up and sniffed the air, checking for danger or breakfast. The male next to her growled softly and tried to tug her back against his chest, his amber eyes sleepy and his white hair disheveled.

"My little bitch, where do you think you are going?" his voice caressed her, the timber running velvet fingers down her spine. She smiled softly down at him, and then blew a puff of venom in his face, the smile widening as his eyes fluttered closed and his grip slackened. Running fingers through his silken hair, she nodded to herself. She had chosen well and would keep him; he'd simply have to learn his place.

Standing in a fluid movement, she glanced at both of their naked bodies. Something about this bothered her; she couldn't pinpoint what, exactly, but it sent her in a search of her clothes, which she pulled on in distaste. The fabric was damp with dew and clammy against her skin. Briefly, she considered letting her male stay the way he was, for she did like to look upon his form. However, the same nagging that prompted her to dress herself was now prodding her to clothe him, so she comprised. Carefully shifting and rolling his body, she was able to dress him in his pleated pants and left it at that.

With a self-satisfied nod, she pulled him into a sitting position by his one arm, then shoved her shoulder under his gut and hoisted him up and onto her shoulder. He would slow her down, for now she couldn't take her mist form, but he was well worth the effort. Testing the breeze once more, she set off at a quick sprint down the gentle slope, careful not to knock her burden into trees that crowded the forest.

XxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru blinked into consciousness with a queasy feeling in his stomach, not so much because of the slight rocking movement or the occasional jerks and shifts to the side that his body was experiencing, but because he was watching the ground skate by under his fingertips that were hanging perilously close to the forest floor and his perfectly groomed hair was now riddled with leaves, twigs and dirt as it dragged behind. He could only assume, from the rather nicely rounded, green-covered backside next to his face, that Inuyasha's wench had him slung over her shoulder and was running through the forest. Naked from the waist up, he was also missing his swords, armor and a great deal of dignity. Worst of all, he couldn't do a damn thing about it because he was once again paralyzed.

'This is getting old,' he grumbled to himself, letting a growl flow freely from his throat. Not only had he fallen for the same trick twice (and how did she make such a fine mist of that sugary liquid?), he was completely at her mercy _again_. This didn't sit well with the great taiyoukai; one could even say that he was uneasy, underneath the slowly burning anger, at this strange turn of events. However, he knew that he could not fly into a rage because it would cloud his mind, even more so than the womanly fragrance that wafted from underneath her indecent skirt. He had to remain alert to analyze this situation and bend this female to his will.

First on his order of business was regaining control of his useless limbs and preventing her from paralyzing him again. He had no idea how he had managed it the first time: whether it was the fight for his life, his impeding release or simply the effects of the venom wearing off. Killing her was an option that crossed his mind more than once, though it intensified the lurching in his gut. She smelled exceptionally enticing, even more now than when he had first answered her call to mate as he'd sat by his campfire, and how often did one meet a female that could rattle the cage of the taiyoukai of the West?

Then there was the added bonus of gloating to his idiot half-brother the conquest of his pet. Normally, Sesshomaru would not have bothered with such a childish display, but he felt entitled to it in this case. The fool had never missed a chance to flaunt Tetsusaiga, an heirloom that should have been his to begin with; would have been, had the wretch not been born hanyou. He would relish the look on his dear brother's face when he realizes that he, Sesshomaru, had been the one to take his wench's maidenhead. Sesshomaru pondered on that thought a moment: why would the girl seek him out instead of Inuyasha, the male with whom she had been traveling? Other than the fact that he was the most worthy mate, of course. Blinking rapidly, Sesshomaru cast that thought aside as dangerous ground.

Returning to his previous train of though, he decided that some subjugation was required. The female had to learn her place, which was _not_ the dominant position. He had always been and always would be the master of his own destiny and of those around him. Females, no matter how luscious, could not be allowed to gallivant about while carrying his person.

And then, more rutting. Despite his best intentions, her scent was tattering his anger and stirring his beast to rumble discontentedly. It got that way whenever he denied it something it wanted, and though he usually was able to keep it chained away until it gave up, he found that he wanted her, too. He could not remember feeling this way about her before; irritation, perhaps, when she aided his half-brother in thwarting him, but never lust. He did not desire anything from humans other than their fear or deaths. She was far from human now, though, which presented the demon lord with an odd mystery. The girl had had strong spiritual energy and a pure heart, neither of which would allow her to call demons into her body, as had other humans. Furthermore, those creatures had become hanyou and this one was youkai, and being fully controlled by her blood beast.

So, he thought, wrenching his mind back to this morning's agenda, after a roll or two in the proverbial hay, he would rub her in the face of his brother, preferably when she still smelled of himself. While he was at it, he would learn the female's name since it wouldn't come to him, despite the fact that he was sure he'd heard Inuyasha yelling it at the top of his lungs more than once. It hadn't seemed important at the time, and still wasn't, but it gave him something to think about other than his disgraceful position over her shoulder. Maybe he would gag her so that she couldn't knock him out again. If she continued to fight him or he could not find a way to make her control her own blood, he could always kill her when he was done with her.

His stomach did an unpleasant roll and he huffed indignantly, or as well as he was able. 'Why should this Sesshomaru hesitate to kill this creature?' The answer came on her scent: cloying, beguiling, and intoxicating.

XxxxxxxxX

"Inuyasha, is that not your brother's minion?" Miroku eyed the toady little creature and his grotesque, two-faced staff. The imp glared back, the slight tremor in his body shaking the hair of the staff's heads.

"What of it?" the hanyou snapped as he tasted the air. The un-Kagome scent had led him here, to a tethered dragon-steed, a trembling imp and a little girl whose usually sunny smile had faded. His mood, already foul and tarnished, was rapidly approaching toxic. What should have been a simple, if horribly heartrending, task of retrieving his best friend's body had turned into a fucking nightmare of confusion and bruised hope that had led him straight to a spot that stank of his arrogant jerk-off of a half-brother. What was more, the two scents, one despised with a passion and one sweet, hormonal, and almost entirely unlike Kagome seemed to lead off in the same direction. He didn't like it and he was pissed. He would deal with the aching pain and heartache when he figured out what the fuck was going on. Then, he'd tear a new asshole or two in the next youkai he found, preferably his brother…

'Damn. It's her scent, but it isn't. Why did that bastard follow her? If she's not dead…he better not have hurt her.'

He still couldn't believe what his nose told him: that his friend had fallen from the cliff and then walked away with a new scent. Sure that he was missing something important but unable to accurately describe the problem to his companions, he was left puzzling through this mystery by himself, which was not one of his strengths. Still, he clung to the precarious hope that it was his Kagome who now carried such a strange signature and not something else entirely. It was the only thing that kept him from tearing apart the woods in a frantic search for her body.

Miroku sighed and absently jingled the rings on his staff, shooting Sango, still puffy-eyed but grim-faced, a speaking glance. The hanyou had been more surely and uncooperative than ever, and while he knew that he was grieving, he was having trouble maintaining his patience. In his heart of hearts, he knew something terrible had happened to the girl, and now he'd wished they'd found her body at the base of the cliff because it surely would have been better than the fate that would have left her alive and walking. Humans did not survive falls like that and the signs did not point to a rescue.

Addressing the imp Jaken, though he knew from experience that it was an exercise in futility, he kept his tone calm and measured. "We are looking for a friend of ours who may have passed this way. Have you seen anyone?"

Jaken began to sputter and Rin smoothly overrode him. "Rin hasn't seen anyone, but Jaken-sama and Sesshomaru-sama sensed something last night. Sesshomaru-sama left and hasn't returned." This statement obviously didn't settle well with the girl, and the small party of shard hunters all had to agree.

"I'm sure he'll return for you soon," Sango tried to comfort her in the style of her missing friend and found herself sorely lacking. The girl felt it too, giving the slayer an uncertain look but nodding her head anyway. Well, she was a youkai exterminator, not kind-hearted priestess. 'I'll just have to leave the consoling to Kagome,' she thought, and then winced as a hot blade twisted in her chest, biting the inside of her lip to stop that tears that threatened to come. She hoped that Inuyasha was right and that Kagome wasn't dead; she couldn't lose both Kohaku and Kagome.

"Foolish mortal, of course he'll return to his faithful retainer!" Jaken was almost bubbling over in righteous indignation, waving his arms and squawking.

Rin nodded, more confidently this time. "Jaken-sama is right; Sesshomaru-sama always comes back. Rin hopes you find your friend."

Inuyasha harrumphed and sprang out of the campsite. Miroku sketched a quick bow to the girl before following Sango back into the forest as she chased after Inuyasha.


	2. Battle of Wills

A/N: Edited by thymecat.

A/N: Lemon alert, and still not romantic. You've been warned. For an unedited version, please see the links on my profile.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 2 – Battle of Wills

Sesshomaru tensed and released a finger muscle experimentally, all the while keeping his eyes focused on the female's back as she drank at the stream. Inordinately pleased by the tiny movement, he tested the rest of fingers until he was positive that they would obey him. The female had not noticed. Good.

Careful not to move and betray his returning mobility, he tightened his quadriceps, then his calves, curled his toes… Everything seemed to be in working order; now to make his move when she would not be able to paralyze him.

Many had accused him of being arrogant and overconfident in battle. It was a false accusation: he knew his great strength and found none who could match it. However, he also knew when a battle was not worth fighting and when to postpone the final outcome to another day (retreat was not in his vocabulary). In this case, postponement was not an option, for he would not tolerate being slung over her shoulder in such a degrading manner, and neither was facing his opponent in an honorable challenge, for she used underhanded tactics. No, stealth and restraint were required if he wanted to keep his dignity and the female intact.

By all rights, he should flay her and leave her for the scavengers for what she had done to him. To think that she had seduced and subdued this Sesshomaru, abducting him and leaving his pack defenseless! It was outrageous and grotesque, an assault against his person that would not go unpunished…but he would rather not dispose of her. She was his and would be taught to respect him.

He froze when she shifted, leaning forward on her knees to bring herself closer to the water, her backside rising into the air and offering him a fine view of her feminine charms under the short, green skirt. Apparently, she had not replaced her undergarments, not that he was complaining. His cock twitched impatiently and he had to agree; that was an invitation if he'd ever seen one.

Coiling his muscles until they hummed and sang, he waited until she had splashed a handful of water onto her face, and then he sprang. Twisting out of the heap in which he'd been dropped and shooting through the air toward her, he pounced onto her back, shoving her head under the water with his upper body and trapping her bent legs with his thighs. He wrapped his arm around her chest and pinned her upper arms to her sides.

She struggled fiercely, thrashing her body in serpentine jerks with more strength than he'd expected and splashing them both liberally with the icy river water, but he held fast, clamping his teeth on the back of her neck. Finally, her body quieted, quivering but no longer fighting him, and he yanked the red cloth from the collar of her blouse. Demons could survive quite awhile without breathing, but he didn't want to test her limits yet. Pulling her head out of the water and stuffing the strip of fabric in her mouth before she could release a cloud of venom, he recovered his grip on her torso, maintaining his hold on her nape with his teeth and grinding his pelvis into her bottom in an unmistakable show of dominance.

Breathing heavily through her nose, she answered with a growl that was far from submissive, the sound muffled by the cloth, though the sweetness of her scent intensified. Again, he pushed against her, unable to banish from his mind the sight of that pink slit that had peeked at him from between her smooth cheeks. Unfortunately, he could not subdue her and undo his hakama at the same time. He soundly, silently cursed his brother for the loss of his arm, his frustration escalating when he noticed that she'd left a wet spot on the crotch of his pants when she'd returned his pressure.

What an infuriating little nymph she was, but perhaps there was there was still hope of relief in this situation. Marginally relaxing his hold on her arms but increasing the tension in his jaws, he paused, waiting to see if she would resume her fight or remain quiet. Another growl bubbled from her throat, but she didn't move anything but her hips, which rolled against him in obvious encouragement. Scooting them away from the sandy bank of the river, he pushed her bent form down with his body until she lay facedown, flat on the ground with his arm trapped under her breasts. Releasing her neck, he walked his knees up her body until they pinned her hands and he could slide his arm from underneath her. She squirmed suddenly, almost freeing a wrist before he grabbed it and bent it behind her, shoving it between his teeth. Back bent at an almost impossible angle, he wrenched her other wrist from its cage between his knee and her thigh, bringing it to join her other wrist and grasping both in his hand.

'Now what?' he huffed, letting a small puff of air escape his nose though his face remained impassive. His obi would have been useful to bind her wrists because he could not allow her to remove the gag, but the yellow sash was long gone. Irritated and past the point of patience, he sat on her hands and delivered a sharp blow to the back of her head, only releasing her body when he was positive that she was unconscious.

XxxxxxxX

"Fuck!" Inuyasha shouted as he stomped a circle around the small, trampled patch of forest ground, his sensitive nose catching and cataloguing the disturbing scents that still permeated the foliage.

Miroku used the golden arch of his staff to prod a piece of white fabric dotted with cartoon cat faces that hung from a low growing bush. "I would have to agree with you on that, my friend."

"Shut the fuck up, monk!" the hanyou snapped. It was not possible; no fucking way that what his nose was telling him was true.

"Aren't those Kagome's…" Sango started, and then blushed, snatching the undergarment from the bush and stuffing them in the girl's yellow backpack.

Inuyasha aimed a kick at a white kimono, decorated at the shoulder and wrists with a delicate red floral design, not at all satisfied that the dirt-smudged garment fluttered weakly away from his foot to land on a pile of white fur. The kimono's short flight uncovered a white loincloth, goading the hanyou into another colorful round of swearing.

Sango grimaced; she had been exposed to foul language and bawdy humor when she'd done jobs with the demon slayers, and Inuyasha could not be accused of being a prude, but she had never heard anything quite like what was coming out of his mouth.

Her eyes traveled to a pair of swords that had been careless discarded in the underbrush. Next to them lay several pieces of spiked armor that looked quite harmless without their fearsome master. Sidling up to Miroku, she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "So, at least we know she's still alive, right?"

Miroku nodded, and then commented on one of Inuyasha's more choice phrases. "Inuyasha, I don't think it would fit."

"I'll make it fit!"

Sango rolled her eyes. "And she's probably okay?"

He nodded again, unwilling to dash her fragile hopes, the rings on his staff chiming a cheerful counterpoint to the hanyou's irate shouting. Miroku didn't think she was 'okay' at all; there was something seriously wrong with their friend if she was surviving falls off of tall cliffs and seducing demon lords. "I think that if she'd been harmed, he would be doing less swearing and more chasing after," he shot a quick look at the hanyou, who was crouched on the ground and sniffing at the dirt, "you-know-who."

The friends watched as Inuyasha crawled forward, his nose to the ground, until he was several yards away from the patch of trampled undergrowth and strewn clothing. He rose up on his haunches, staring into the forest with wild eyes, and then slammed his fist into the ground.

Miroku had had enough and stalked up to the hanyou, smacking him over the head with his staff. Inuyasha glared daggers at him, rubbing the rising knot. "What the fuck was that for?"

"Stop this ridiculous display and tell us what you know so that we can help Kagome!"

Inuyasha looked mildly ashamed, lowering his eyes to stare out into the forest. "She's changed. And she's taken him."

"Changed?"

"Taken him?" Sango and Miroku spoke at once, voicing two separate questions, and Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest, not wanting to answer either one of them. "Inuyasha?" Sango prompted him.

"It's her scent, but it ain't," he explained helpfully.

"Perhaps whatever changed her scent is what allowed her to survive the fall," Miroku suggested, despite niggles of fear that wound through his gut. They had been present since Inuyasha had first found her scent at the base of the cliff and declared her alive. This new development had made those worms of worry breed into a teeming mass.

"Obviously!" Inuyasha groused, but still didn't look at him.

"What do you mean, taken him?" Sango asked again, utterly baffled and wondering if she'd heard correctly.

"I mean, she fucking picked him up and walked off!" he growled, a feral sound that his human companions rarely heard coming from his throat. Sure, he growled all the time, but now he sounded like a rabid dog.

"How can that be possible? He's over a head taller than her, not to mention she's not that strong…" Sango tried to reason with him but was silenced by his sudden scowl in her direction. _Changed_…he'd said.

Climbing to his feet, the hanyou stomped to the circle of squashed plants and pointed with a furious, fearful claw, trying to ignore the lingering smells of blood, semen, and some cloying sweetness that he couldn't identify. "They were here together, but only her scent leads away."

"Couldn't he have just flown away?"

"Keh. Without his clothes and swords? No, I can catch traces of his scent where he brushed against the bushes." He pointed to where he'd been sniffing out her trail, positive that the petite girl had somehow been carrying him.

"Why would he let her do that?" Miroku asked, his mind spinning dizzily as he tried to assimilate this new information.

The hanyou grumbled something under his breath and scowled at the ground.

"Inuyasha," Sango started, but was cut off by his explosive curse.

"I don't fucking know!" He didn't know why the feminine musk trail led from Sesshomaru's camp to here. He didn't know why Kagome's changed blood mingled with that of his damn half-brother's in the damp forest floor. He didn't know why the scent of sex hung heavy in the air, both feminine and masculine arousal permeating the broken foliage, or why she'd taken the bastard but left his shirt. All he had were questions and he intended to spill more blood when finding the answers. 'I'm gonna rip off each piece of him that's touched her and shove them down his damn throat.'

XxxxxxxX

She woke to a pounding in her skull and tried to shift from her side to a more comfortable position, only to find that her wrists and ankles were bound and that her mouth was full of fabric, also tied tightly. Her male was sitting close by, watching her with glacial eyes. Growling, she snarled her lips around the gag and glared, her violet eyes malevolent and promising pain.

"You have much to answer for, bitch."

She disagreed: _he_ was the one who was misbehaving and she didn't appreciate his attitude. A faint voice in the back of her throbbing head kept whispering the word 'osuwari', but she didn't understand the relevance: he was already sitting. So many things clamored in her head; brief glimpses of faces, snatches of conversation, fantastic places that couldn't possibly be real. She pushed them all away, focusing her attention on the most immediate of her problems: the male with the insufferably smug expression on his pale face.

He reached for her, giving the bindings on her wrist a quick jerk, perhaps to test their strength, perhaps to remind her that she was now his captive. No matter, it wouldn't be for long. However, she'd be much more careful when dealing with him in the future.

"The offenses that you have committed against this Sesshomaru are too numerous to count."

She growled again, shaking off the twinge in her chest at the name 'Sesshomaru'. The volume of the voices in her mind increased, insisting that it should mean something to her. It was important, somehow. Irritated and straining against the bonds that chafed against her skin, she told the voices to bugger off.

'Wrong, wrong,' a small voice lamented, refusing to be shushed. 'What about Inuyasha?'

'What's an Inuyasha?' she wondered, more than a little miffed that even her own mind was rebelling against her and that her heart had contracted almost painfully when the voice had mentioned it.

All she had wanted was a drink and a bath. For some reason, the need for a bath was pressing. Once she had dealt with her male, she would take one and no Sesshomarus or Inuyashas would stand in her way.

"Have you nothing to say for yourself?" the corner of his mouth twitched and she was sure that he was laughing at her, irking her to no end. Who did this male think he was, tying her up and insulting her?

'Sesshomaru…' the little voice reminded her.

'Whatever,' she snapped. Calming her mind, she extended her aura and sent out her call. The male immediately stiffened, the self-satisfied expression dissolving as his eyes brightened. Leaning toward her, his nostrils flared as he inhaled the saccharine musk she released from her pores. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he reared backward, withdrawing his outstretched hand to his chest as if he'd been burnt. A sneer curled his lip as he regarded her with thinly veiled fury.

"You dare to lure this Sesshomaru with your pathetic attempt at seduction?"

'Yes,' she responded silently, and strengthened the call until her aura pulsed with desire. He was almost shaking, his hand clenching spasmodically in some internal war. One glance at the tent in his pants told her that he was loosing.

'Pathetic, indeed,' a slight smile curled her lips against the gag. He would pleasure her before her bath. She might even bathe him too if she was feeling generous afterward.

The male abruptly rose to his feet, glaring down at her as he stalked in a circle. He was out of her range of vision for half of the time, but she could still feel his eyes clawing at her body, angry and lustful, the rumble of his steady growl almost lost under the gurgling of the stream. She waited patiently, meeting his stare directly as he passed in front of her, challenging him to do his worst.

Sharp claws suddenly grasped her thighs, tensing on the skin, and then pushing so that she lay on her stomach. She wiggled her hips, pleased as his growl increased in volume. It had only been a matter of time before his beast had taken control; now he would have to free her legs to satisfy the want she had instilled in him. Clenching her pelvic muscles in anticipation, she realized that she wanted this beyond a simple wish for a quick rut and the release of her bindings; the hunger was returning, sending a frisson of pain through her veins…

XXX (mature content edited out)

Accepting his praise with a contented rumble, for he had pleased her as well, she was strangely content and almost regretted what she was about to do. She didn't really want to hurt him; she'd rather cuddle and care for him, but his actions dictated otherwise. Bearing down with her pelvic muscles on the staff that still impaled her, she focused his attention away from her hands as she slowly uncurled her fingers. With a snapping flex of her fingers, curved talons tore through the sculpted muscles of his stomach and he roared, wrenching away from her in surprise and fury.

Wasting no time, she rolled to her side and pushed her bottom through the circle of her arms, followed by her legs, until her tied wrists were in front of her. Rolling away from his sudden lunge and surging to her feet, she sprang away and sliced through the gag with her claws, spitting red fabric out of her mouth.

Landing in a crouch on the other side of the stream, she faced him as she gnawed through the bindings on her wrists. He glared at her from a position that mirrored her own, a hunched squat, though his clawed hand was flung to the side and oozing hissing green poison. She smelled the destructive power in those toxins, recognized the intelligent being taking control as the crimson bled from his eyes and his face settled into disdainful boredom. He didn't even acknowledge the wound in his stomach.

She had caught his beast off guard, but she would not be so lucky with _him_.

"…Kagome!" a far-off voice called, panic and fury edging the words.

She cocked her head curiously, wondering at the flutter in her stomach at the sound of that word shouted by that voice. She didn't need rebellious head demons to tell her that she should know what it meant.

As his brother's faint cry evaporated into the sunny afternoon, Sesshomaru watched confusion and hesitation flit across her face, her violet eyes swirling as she stared past him from the other side of the stream. So unlike what he associated with his purple-haired fiend, he was forcibly reminded of the other her: the human with brown eyes and black hair who had tailed his brother and had to be rescued every fight. His eyes settled on the swath of midriff now revealed by her torn and shortened blouse. She had been a comely thing even then, not that he'd been looking. Because he hadn't. 'This Sesshomaru does not _look_ at humans.'

Idly, he wondered why his brother had never taken her, for he'd felt her maidenhead break with his own entry. The fool probably didn't know what to do with a female. 'Perhaps he prefers the dead?' he thought with an internal shudder, his face revealing nothing of the revulsion he felt for his brother's relationship with the undead priestess. Necrophilia: yet another way the hanyou would soil his family's good name.

The hanyou's voice echoed through the forest again, infinitesimally closer but approaching nonetheless. The female had yet to make a move, her attention still trained on the voice and the bewilderment it stirred within her.

Should he catch her and keep her? His youkai had claimed her but no one made decisions for this Sesshomaru, not even his own blood beast. Should he desert her, ridding him of a slinky, sweetly scented problem and lose the chance to gloat at the hanyou? By leaving her here, he would be, in effect, giving her to Inuyasha and the idea rankled him.

Despite her propensity for obstinacy and disobedience, she was a good lay. His father had kept a small harem of females for just that reason; it was amazing that he only had the one bastard half-brother. Fortunately, the Inu no Taisho had had the fortitude to resist the calls of the females…in…heat.

For the first time since following her into the woods, Sesshomaru took a good look at the female and analyzed the situation. Born human and now full youkai, she was driven by instincts and changed blood, seemingly not aware of her previous existence. She had singled him out, tested him, and found him suitable.

She had called…he had answered.

"Hn."

Now, she was staring straight at him, a calculating gleam in her keen violet eyes, and he realized that she was not the mindless screw that he'd taken her for.


	3. Vanished

Edited by thymecat

A/N: I know that this chapter has been a long time in coming – I told you I hadn't abandoned it! Thank to everyone who reviewed and reminded me to continue it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 3 - Vanished

"Kagome, I'm coming!"

The yell was much louder and rang with desperation and anger. It struck a chord deep within her, resonating throughout her entire body until it thrummed at her center. It unnerved her and a large part of her didn't like it. The other part wanted to sob in relief.

Growling, she flashed her fangs at the direction in which the voice was coming to show that it did not frighten her and let her body release its form. The colors and sounds of the world began to fade when the insistent, nagging voice shouted in her head, 'No, he's coming! He said to wait for him!'

Solidity hit her like a punch in the chest and she staggered a moment to catch her balance on the uneven bank of the stream. Annoyed, she pushed the voice away and tried to dissolve again, only to be hit broadside by a heavy, sweaty body. Once again knocked into her corporeal form, she snarled into the face of her male, who looked dispassionately down at her as he trapped her facedown between his wounded torso and the muddy bank.

Tearing free of her mental stranglehold since her concentration had been broken, the voice in her head screamed, 'No! Inuyasha! Help me!'

"Who?" she growled back in exasperation, surprising the demon lord who was trying to catch the writhing, muddy female's mouth with his hand before she could dissolve or poison him.

He had not heard her speak until this moment, and he could only assume that she was not speaking to him, as he had not said anything. Was she answering his half-brother? A jagged rip of jealousy tore through him and his mask cracked to show a glint of anger. His rational side may not have been sure if he wanted to keep her, but instincts told him that she was his, damn it! She had chosen him over the half-breed and he was not going to let her go back to him.

She slithered against him enticingly as she struggled and his body reacted accordingly. Try as he might to ignore it and despite the fact that he had just mounted her, he was hard and ready for another go. It wasn't a bad idea at that; the hanyou would not be able to refute his claim if he reinforced it in front of him.

Unfortunately, the female (Kagome, he now knew) was not cooperating. Growling and squirming, she seemed inordinately distracted to the point that she had not tried to paralyze him or even do much damage.

Glancing up as a sapling on the opposite bank shuddered violently, then toppled over the stream, Sesshomaru watched Inuyasha crash out of the forest and into view with all the grace and delicacy of a stampede of elephants. The hanyou's eyes widened as he made sense of the entwined, muddy, naked figures on the other side of the stream, and Sesshomaru had time for a mental sigh before…

"KAGOME!" his shout tore vocal chords and pounded against three sets of youkai eardrums.

Underneath him, Kagome screamed and bucked, dislodging him enough that she could lunge forward and out of his grasp. Fixing Inuyasha with a furious, violet glare, she hissed and Sesshomaru leapt back out of spraying range. Roaring inarticulately, Inuyasha dashed toward the girl and was hit with a face-full of sweetly scented vapor. He dropped like a stone at her feet.

She stood very still for a long moment, staring at the unconscious hanyou, face neutral though her eyes shone brightly with confusion, and then glanced up at Sesshomaru. In an instant, she was gone; her body a rapidly dispersing cloud that vanished into the stream.

Leaping to his feet, Sesshomaru lunged toward her fading form, cursing the second he had taken to gloat when she had brought down his half-brother. It had been the pinnacle of foolishness to assume she wouldn't have made good on her chance to escape.

Irritated almost beyond the point of reasonable thinking, he drew in deep breaths, trying to catch the direction in which she was moving. Her cloying fragrance was rapidly dissipating in the breeze and quickly becoming stale. Of a fresh trail, he could detect no sign. It was as if she had dissolved into the water. So, to search upstream or downstream?

His preoccupation was so consuming that he completely missed the approaching human scents until they were almost upon him.

"Whoa! I see that we might have come at an awkward time!" Miroku stopped dead in his tracks, skidding ruts into the soft riverbank as the momentum from his sprint carried him forward. Sesshomaru rose from the stream and out of his crouch, fixing him with rouged golden eyes. Water streamed down his skin in muddy rivulets and Miroku couldn't help but take a look…ah. So that's why human women would dally with youkai males. He felt a little inadequate in comparison.

Sango halted much more gracefully, then backpedaled several steps.

"Ah!" she flushed hotly and turned her back on the youkai, the thick member between his thighs burning a polarized image into her brain. Of all the sights she had wanted to see, a semi-erect Sesshomaru had not been on the list. Ever. Even thinking about Miroku like that…"Gah!"

No one noticed the hanyou until he stirred and groaned on the opposite bank of the stream.

Watching the humans splash across the stream with disinterested eyes, Sesshomaru noted that the human female's face was an alarming shade of red and that she absolutely refused to look at him, even to the point of stumbling on the slick rocks when watching her feet would have put him in her peripheral vision. Idly, he wondered on it as he let his keen nose shift through the scents for a hint of his female's direction and disregarded the sounds of the half-breed and his pack's reunion.

As always, his brother would only be ignored for so long. A shout and the ring of a sword being drawn from a scabbard warned Sesshomaru that his half-brother was no longer worse for the wear. Having lost his swords after his first encounter with the female, he lashed out with his energy whip, knocking Tetsusaiga from his useless brother's grasp. No further action was necessary on his part when the monk slapped an ofuda to the back of his head. Again, the hanyou was forced to the ground; the monk perched on his back and panting slightly.

"This is not the time for that, Inuyasha!" Miroku scolded him, desperately hoping that his ofuda would help counteract the rising of his black blood until Tetsusaiga could be returned to him. So far, so good. "He will best be able to tell us what has become of Kagome!"

Inuyasha raked the earth with his claws, digging deep grooves in the forest floor as he growled and cursed. However, the spell held him in place and his temper eventually cooled to somewhere around boiling point. Finally, he fixed his brother with a furious, golden glower. "Put your fucking pants on, bastard!"

Sesshomaru leveled a cool stare at the hanyou from the corner of his eyes. As irritating as the demand was, it did explain the human female's bizarre reaction to his presence. Humans were modest. He, an inuyoukai whose alternate form was that of a giant dog, donned clothes as a convenience. It was difficult to hang a sword from a bare hip.

"Please return our friend to us, Lord Sesshomaru," Miroku pleaded respectfully once the taiyoukai had donned his hakama.

"You are mistaken, human. She is not your friend. And I do not have her."

"Liar!" Inuyasha bellowed, red-faced and puffing as he renewed his struggle against Miroku's ofuda. "You already _had_ her! And I'm gonna make sure you never-"

"So I did," Sesshomaru confirmed, staring down his straight nose at the hanyou, whose eyes were twitching spasmodically.

"Inuyasha, you're not helping!" hefting Hiraikotsu reflexively, Sango was hard pressed not to vent her worry and fear by clobbering the hanyou. She didn't want to be reminded of the clearing where they had first discovered that Kagome was with Sesshomaru, nor the shocking state in which they'd found the taiyoukai.

"I believe it would be more beneficial to Kagome if we resume our search, rather than argue about matters best left in private," Miroku said in that pious manner he adopted during crises as he bopped the hanyou's head with his fist.

"I can't fucking search with this stupid spell on me, now can I?" the hanyou ground between clenched teeth. Miroku sighed in exasperation.

"This Sesshomaru has no need for the help of mere humans to find his female."

Inuyasha let loose a strangled yell and Miroku hurriedly slapped another ofuda to his broad, red back.

Sango chose to ignore the youkai's last statement to clarify a much more disturbing comment he'd made earlier. "Lord Sesshomaru," she began as politely as could be expected in the circumstances. She still couldn't look at him and it was all she could do to speak to him. "What did you mean by, 'she isn't your friend'?"

He turned toward her and took a step forward, enjoying her discomfort, though she held her position. "My swords?" he asked instead of answering her question, figuring that since they had been tracking them, they had probably found them.

"They are under a barrier where you left them, my lord," Miroku supplied. "But Kagome?"

Sesshomaru blinked, his expression schooled into careful boredom to disguise his own lack of knowledge. Truly, what did he know? She was no longer human; she had chosen him to mate…or breed. She seemed to have very little sense of her previous self. He could have simply ignored the question, as he had so many others. Perhaps it was the tiny capillary of compassion that had prompted him to save Rin that now spoke through him. "She is not Kagome."

XxxxxxxX

She who was and was not Kagome traveled upstream, her incorporeal form merging and sliding through the water. It was soothing and mesmerizing, allowing her brain a blissful moment of quiet away from the clamoring of the voice that seemed so concerned with names. It was so much simpler to _be_.

She had no concept of speed or time in this form. Direction was of no consequence. Sleek, silver fish that darted through her body were absorbed and left as empty husks; their once iridescent scales becoming dull and lifeless as their clouded orbs. The silt and sand below the water was pushed aside by jagged rocks, then the rocks became smooth pebbles, slick with algae, then was buried under sand, gritty against the tendrils of her body. Further and further she flowed, away from Inuyashas and Sesshomarus and Kagomes.

It couldn't always be like this, she knew. Eventually, she would need her male. She might have chosen too well, in his case, but she had the most important thing. Ultimately, if she never caught him again, he had still served his purpose. There were many other males out there who could help her later. Still, she liked that one. He had tasted good and he had pleased her.

The feel of the water changed, no longer exposed to the open air and rushing freely over sand, but surrounded by hard rock and being forced through a channel. She didn't mind, though it gave her more resistance. Up she flowed.

Finally, the drag of the water against her body was too much for even her to oppose, and she pushed out of the liquid and into the tiny fissures in the rock, following the cracks as her body stretched to its thinnest, mere particles traveling one after the other in a steady stream. It felt delightful, as if every part of her was getting a good scratch. She'd have to remember this.

Occasionally, she would slide through a drop of water, the cool wetness so delicate in contrast to the harshness of the rock. It tasted of green and brown and dark places. If she'd had skin, she would have shuddered in pleasure.

And then there was no rock, no water, only buffeting wind and the flavor of open air. She let it take her where it would, up high into clouds of vapor or through sharp needles of pine trees that fingered her amorphous shape, or brushing against the tops of long, supple blades of grass. Small youkai birds met abrupt ends, drained of their life force as they flew to fall into soft piles of dust, hidden in the grass. She would surge forward momentarily, relishing the tingle of new power as it melded with her essence, then drift with the wind.

A new presence entered her awareness unlike anything else she had encountered: a long, delicate youkai that swam through the air as graceful as a fish through water. Surrounded by its cool, silky youki was another entity; a sphere that radiated sadness and loss as a soft blue light that somehow pierced through the sightlessness that was her world. Her ethereal body overtook it like the gentle washing of waves on a shore, gathering the youki into itself and releasing the creature's hold on the softly pulsing orb. Like a helium balloon with its string cut, the little ball of light rose into the sky, shedding its sadness as it disappeared.

Quietly elated, sharing in the entity's joy at being free, she stretched herself to find more of these strange youkai, knowing in the depths of her mind that where there was one, there would be more. Soon, she had absorbed several of the wraith-like youkai, following their collective trail to what she assumed was their source.

A white-hot spear of pain shot through her, momentarily robbing her of her senses. Shrinking the amorphous cloud that was her body, she solidified to face this threat that had caused such agony that she fell to her knees once her legs had taken shape.

Staring down at her with hard, dark eyes was a female clothed in white and red, an arrow nocked to her bow and pointed directly at her. The woman's eyes soften with confusion as she stared down at her, the tip of the arrow lowering slightly as she opened her mouth to speak, "…can it be?"

"Is my soul so doomed that even my reincarnation must walk the earth as youkai?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed as she rose to stand straight. She resented this woman deep in the marrow of her bones. The reason was not forthcoming and it didn't bother her in the least. In the tumult of familiar faces and conflicting emotions and desires, this was something about which she felt no uncertainty. Faster than the woman could release her arrow, Kagome had dissolved and reformed behind her, expelling a cloud of saccharine, toxic venom. The woman whirled in place, swinging her bow to strike the creature behind her but the blow never connected. She crumpled to the ground as the miasma invaded through the pores in her clay body. Before she hit the ground, Kagome drove her claws into her neck, smashing through brittle clay and dry bone. The woman's head fell to the earth separate from her body, her eyes frozen wide in surprise before her head shattered into jagged brown shards. Strands of black hair vanished into wisps of oily, dark smoke. Brightly glowing spheres escaped from her hollow neck, darting for the heavens in a brilliant rush of blue light as her body cracked beneath the garments, then broke apart completely.

Kagome stared at the empty clothes with a grim kind of satisfaction. True, a very small part of her mourned, but it seemed to be sad not for this woman but for another, and it was so faint and distant that it hardly registered. More importantly, she had left her clothes and Kagome was feeling the lack of her own.

Shaking bits of dry clay and dust from the white kimono and red hakama, she frowned as a small pink shard fell out of the kimono and into the pile of clay. It was important; she knew this. After shrugging into the kimono and tying the hakama around her waist, she picked up the piece of jewel between her thumb and forefinger, studying it closely. However, she could discern nothing more than it was powerful and significant to her, one of many that she had been collecting. Why? She didn't know.

Shrugging, she dropped it into the little bottle that hung around her neck and loosened her form to glide upon the wind.

XxxxxxX

"Inuyasha, I want to find her as much as you do, but it's been a month and we haven't seen a single hair of her!" Miroku exclaimed to Inuyasha, who crossed his arms over his chest and glared out the door of Kaede's hut and into the night.

"Are you saying I should give up, monk? Feh, never." It wasn't an option: he would find Kagome eventually, if he had to turn all of Japan inside out. Failure had never stopped him before. Giving up his search would mean accepting that she may never come back.

Miroku had known that this was going to be a difficult conversation, but something had to give. After Kagome had disappeared at the stream, they had followed the water as it flowed downstream to a giant waterfall. Sesshomaru had traveled upstream and had met with the same lack of success. With no scent to follow or trail to track, they had collected Shippo and Kirara and then scoured the woods blindly for weeks, strangely enough, teamed with Sesshomaru and his little group. They had finally stopped only two days before the new moon, despairingly traveling back to Kaede's village to replenish their supplies and maybe gain some insight from the old priestess regarding their friend's change. It was then that they had parted ways with Sesshomaru, who had no interest in listening to a "blathering old human".

The fact that the taiyoukai would willingly help them find the girl, and that Inuyasha had, by and large, resisted the temptation to fight with his brother, was nothing short of a miracle. Miroku didn't understand it, and could only come to the conclusion that Sesshomaru had his own purpose for finding the girl and that Inuyasha was desperate enough to get Kagome back that he would accept help from any source. The taiyoukai's interest in Kagome was not discussed, nor was his relations with the girl before she had disappeared. Miroku didn't know the details but could guess well enough; as for Inuyasha, he had simply devolved into a state of denial.

"No, I'm not saying that you should give up. I am saying that we must continue with our quest to complete the jewel and destroy Naraku."

"I'm not fucking-"

"Inuyasha! She is obviously nowhere near where we last saw her! We are just as likely to find Kagome during our travels as we are circling that river!"

Inuyasha was silent, turning his options over in his head as his silver ears flickered to the sounds in the village. He knew that they should continue with their quest; they had already delayed too long and it was anybody's guess what Naraku was up to now. However, he couldn't believe that they would simply bump into Kagome as they hunted the foul hanyou. Life wasn't that kind him, not to mention that his bastard brother was still searching for her. If Sesshomaru were to find her first…no, he couldn't allow that to happen. Naraku and the jewel be damned, he had to find Kagome and bring her home before that bastard could put his claws on her. The only reason he had agreed to come back to the village ("agreed" wasn't quite the right word – he had been immobilized with ofudas and slung onto Kirara's back) was because he didn't want his brother to know about his night of weakness. When Kagome was safe and sound, he owed the taiyoukai a serious ass kicking for touching her. Then, he would erase from her body and mind every lingering trace of his brother until he was satisfied that Kagome once again belonged to him.

Finally, Inuyasha snapped, "Idiot, who's gonna find the jewels for you without Kagome?"

"Perhaps the Lady Kikyou would consider-"

"Keh. I ain't seen her in ages."

Miroku sighed; he had expected resistance but had held out hope that Inuyasha would see sense. With a heavy heart, he spoke quietly, "Sango and I are leaving in the morning. We wish you would come with us; it will be much more difficult without your help, my friend."

Still not meeting the monk's eyes, Inuyasha snorted rudely. Without another word, Miroku left the hut.


	4. Reprieve

Edited by thymecat.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 4 – Reprieve 

Sesshomaru gazed at the moon, a fat, slightly flattened circle that hung large, heavy and low on the horizon, a burnished orange that was strikingly different than its normal wan, shy glow. Shutting out the squabbling of his small pack, he let his senses roam as they would, his mind alert for any trace of a honeyed scent or beguiling presence.

He'd come to terms with his desire to have her back, he who needed nothing and no one. It wasn't anything that resembled what humans referred to as love; more the phantom ache of a missing limb without which he couldn't quite function. The amputation of his left arm had not left him with this peculiar feeling of loss; the death of his father had stirred much more raw, distressing emotions. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this quiet longing, despite the many hours spent pondering why the female would stir such a reaction and the lengths he would go to retrieve her.

A small, snide, increasingly quieter part of him wanted to find her in order to inflict upon her the same humiliation he had suffered at her hands (or shoulder, to be exact), if that were, indeed, possible. Nowhere in his memory could he find an instance of a taiyoukai being paralyzed, thrown over the shoulder of a female like a sack of rice and lugged across country. Then again, it wasn't something to which a taiyoukai would admit, him included. The shame would be too great. So, what punishment would fit her crime? He'd have to be creative.

However, as that disgruntled voice was pushed into the background, he realized that he didn't want to hurt her. She had felt good curled next to him, wrapped around him, squeezing him dry. After so many years alone (Jaken didn't count and Rin's entire life span was a mere blink of the eye compared to the number of years he'd lived), it would be nice to have someone with whom to relieve the monotony. A strong someone, no less, and an invigorating way to pass the time! Having spent limited time (conscious) in her presence, he had no idea the extent of her power, but so far, he was somewhat impressed, if mildly disturbed. He certainly had no complaints about the sex: he hadn't had this much fun bedding a female since…well, a very long time. Paralyzing venom and headstrong ways aside, she would make a pleasant companion: quiet and lusty.

Thus, without much deliberation, he'd collaborated with his half-brother's pack, an action he would never have considered in other circumstances. Also surprising was Inuyasha's cooperation, albeit reluctant, loud, and rather obscene. He supposed that the boy intended to claim her for himself, but had no qualms about disappointing him. No, he just couldn't get the vision of flaunting his new toy in the boy's face out of his head. Inuyasha could sit on Tetsusaiga, pointy end up, and he _still_ wouldn't release the female to him.

His final analysis was that he wanted her back. Therefore, he would have her. It was simply a matter of time.

It was Rin who had found the first clue to her route, literally stumbling over it as she'd fished for her dinner from the same stream in which the female had disappeared.

"_Ooh, Master Jaken, this fish is napping!" the child pointed to a withered silver fish floating down the river. "So is this one!"_

_Jaken was quick to take charge. "Don't touch them, stupid human! We don't know what killed them."_

"_But they'd be so much easier to catch," Rin protested, watching the fish float by with yearning eyes._

"_I said, don't touch!"_

"_Jaken." Sesshomaru silenced the toad as he strode to the bank of the stream, extending his senses to examine the dead fish from afar. They did not smell of poison, nor were they injured beyond the obvious desiccation of their bodies. Odd, that a fish could wither while in the water._

So, once again, they'd traveled upstream, this time following the sparse trail of fish carcasses caught in weed beds that grew at the water's edge until they'd reached the font of the stream as it burst from a crack in the mountainside. A lesser youkai would have been daunted by the near impossible task of tracking a shape shifter riding an underground river, but Sesshomaru was not a lesser youkai. Using his keen hearing in a way he'd never done before, he'd trained his ears to the quiet rush and gurgle of water under his feet, knowing that sooner or later, she would emerge from the ground, if for no other reason than to feed.

He wasn't disappointed. Though he didn't find the exact point at which she'd left her subterranean lair, the dry husks of birds, still carrying a trace of her sweet scent, had given him a new trail to follow.

Again, Rin had found the next big clue while picking mushrooms for her dinner: a pair of sandals. Squealing in delight, she'd slipped on the sandals and clomped through the forest back to Jaken, proudly showing off her new footgear. Jaken had been less than impressed, but Sesshomaru had gone to investigate, well aware that humans did not cast away their possessions so carelessly and yet not smelling a human corpse that would explain their presence. The wind had changed, carrying with it a teasing curl of her fragrance and he'd flared his nostrils in appreciation, quickening his steps. Instead of to his female, Rin's footsteps and the scent of sweet venom led him to an unassuming heap of clay. A bow and a quiver of arrows, both tainted with miko power, lay near a flowering shrub. He'd stared at it for a long moment, trying to make sense of what his common sense and youkai senses were telling him.

'Ah, of course. The undead priestess that so captured my half-brother's heart,' he'd thought as memories clicked into place of a golem bearing Kagome's features and part of her soul. Apparently, his female had reclaimed what belonged to her. He'd nodded in smug approval.

A tiny figure rising into the sky stirred him out of his musings and he glanced away from the harvest moon, squinting against the darkness to make out what it was. 'A giant feather – Kagura,' he blinked once and strode in that direction, his steps measured, purposeful, and unhurried, his eyes fixed on the feather's erratic movements. Behind him, Jaken squawked and Rin pleaded with him to, "Wait for me!", but he paid it no mind, as always.

The wind witch bred trouble, almost as much as his female, and it was too convenient to be coincidence that Kagura had run into something powerful enough to shake her feather in the same vicinity to which his female had fled.

Follow one to find the other.

XxxxxxX

She stared unblinking at the orange disc at the bottom of the sky, knowing that there had once been a time that she'd done this with another person. Snatches of conversation tickled her ears, silver ears twitched at the edges of her vision, but every time she turned to look or respond to a comment, the person was gone. She was alone. Solitude didn't please her as much as it used to.

The shallow cave that she had chosen for her den was no longer appealing and restlessness had settled into her bones. It was dangerous, she knew, to start traveling again but the stifling isolation was driving her further and further away from her haven during her nightly hunts. Eventually, she wouldn't bother to return. The buried voice that missed a dog-eared boy moaned for companionship and it was beginning to mold her cravings.

Sighing in frustration, she scattered herself to the wind and let it carry her, trying in vain to recapture the lull of contentment that had once been brought by the wandering breeze…until the wind became distressed as she was.

It howled and strained against an invisible force, tugging at her yet trying to push her away. Curious and looking forward to whetting her appetite on a challenging foe, she coalesced into solidity, the grasses whipping around her legs scratchy and sharp against her skin as they found their way under the hem of her billowing pants. Claws of air tangled in her hair, dragging a purple curtain over narrowed, violet eyes. Blinking away the moisture caused by the debris whipped into her face, she focused on a female standing next to a funnel cloud, laughing as it pummeled a creature caught in the center.

The woman turned cruel, red eyes on her and sneered, "What are you looking at, wretch? Do you want some of the same?"

Something about the female bothered her; it brought on that deep feeling of recognition that she had begun to despise and desire. Familiarity brought on confusion, and with confusion came the voice that was so concerned with names. She flexed her claws, savoring the upcoming fight and feast of powerful youki.

"You carry shards of the sacred jewel," the woman purred with a twisted smile, her red eyes alighting with greed. With a flick of her fan, she dispelled the contrived tornado, sending its occupant skidding across the ground and careening into the base of a boulder. The bundle of furs and torn flesh lay still, to the satisfied nod of the woman. "So, priestess, unless you want to share a similar fate, hand them over."

'Don't give them to her!' the voice screamed needlessly in the back of her mind. As if she would give this creature anything but a painful death. Growling, she bared long white fangs in a menacing snarl.

The woman took an involuntary step back, her eyes widening quickly as her eyes raked over her opponent's form. "Some priestess you are," she sneered as she recovered her composure. Closing her fan and tapping it against her chin, the woman sent her another appraising look. "Still, you resemble that bumbling idiot who follows Inuyasha…"

Her shoulders stiffened, the growl in her throat crescendoing into a low roar as she leapt at the condescending woman who dared mention that name.

"Dance of Blades!" the woman shouted, sweeping her fan in an elegant arc, but she had already dispersed her body into a fine mist, the bolts of energy passing through her with an electric sizzle. Surging forward, she surrounded the female holding the fan, pouring her amorphous form into the witch's nose and mouth, and drawing out the strong youki. The female screamed, twirling in place as she summoned a maelstrom around them to buffet against the force that was consuming her from the inside out.

Like ribbons of flypaper, the false wind attached to her body, dragging it from the youkai and expelling her out of her body in a compressing rush. Dropping to newly formed knees several feet from the painted female, she shook her head to clear it of the churning masses of fog that came from an unplanned transformation. Her opponent staggered, staring at her with livid, agonized eyes as she tugged a small, white feather from her hair and threw it into the air.

"Don't think you've seen the last of me, wretch!" the woman leapt into the air and landed on the now giant feather, spiraling shakily into the air with a last glower over the edge.

The pitiful heap of fur groaned and twitched, and her attention swiveled to him as he slowly stretched into the shape of a man. "That wind bitch, I'm gonna kick her ass…" he grumbled between the creaks and pops of his bones. He managed to climb to his feet with the aid of the boulder, his back to her and high ponytail obscuring his face, but as soon as he let go, he collapsed back into the dirt with a low groan.

She watched him with a dispassionate scowl, irritated that his suffering had distracted her from her prey. Though perhaps it was just as well, because now she had a fairly strong meal that had been pre-tenderized.

The male flopped onto his back and stared up at her with blue eyes dulled with pain. His furs hung off him in tattered strips, baring hundreds of oozing gouges. With one shaky hand, he readjusted a dented chest plate that had become uncomfortably skewed across his abdomen. If not for his obvious weakness, he would have been a handsome male: tanned skin stretched over lean, corded muscles, speaking of strength and agility despite his dilapidated appearance. Of course, he in no way compared to _her_ male…

She stopped in her tracks, dreaded recognition flooding her brain as the voice in her head cried out in frantic panic, 'It's Kouga! He's a friend: he'll help us.'

"Kouga," she whispered before she could stop herself. She kept her venom to herself, unsure of what she wanted to do with him. This male was not as threatening, nor as powerful, as the others and her alter ego considered him a valuable acquaintance. However, she didn't need a "friend", as the voice put it, and she felt no great desire to rut with him. Just the same, the longing for companionship held her to the spot.

The wolf blinked up at her, propping himself on one elbow and tossing his dark ponytail over his shoulder with a quick jerk of his head. "Who're you?" he snarled, sniffing in her direction. He blinked again, sneezing slightly as the snarl melted into a goofy, lopsided grin. "Come closer so I can get another whiff of you," he pulled himself up the boulder and held out his hand.

'That jerk! He doesn't even know that it's me!' Amused by her mind's offended ramblings, she stepped forward, tensed and ready to attack at a moment's notice. The wolf leered as she approached, studying her closely with a lascivious twinkle in his eyes. The voice was getting more indignant, huffing as his eyes lingered on her breasts.

"Hey, wait..." Kouga's eyes snapped to her face, searching for something he'd seemed to already find in her bosom. "Kagome?"

She stopped, not liking to hear that name spoken aloud. The voice in her head harrumphed good naturedly, 'Who else?'

Kouga didn't notice her sudden hesitancy or the darkening of her violet eyes. "Wow, Kagome! That's…a new look for you! Did you change your hair?" Limping forward, he tasted the air with long breaths, bewilderment skittering across his face like storm clouds. " You're not human, anymore… I'm not saying that I don't like it, but you smell..."

He reared back, almost loosing his balance and catching her shoulders for balance. She stood still, resisting the temptation to rip his hands off of his wrists as her ire rose at his manhandling. Giving her shoulders a little shake, Kouga glared into her eyes and growled, "That albino mutt touched my woman! Where is he? I'll kill him!"

He glanced around, trying ineffectively to shove her behind him when she had enough. No male had the right to claim her, not without her approval, and certainly not a battered, weak male who let himself be pummeled by equally weak wind witches.

Pushing aside the protests of her inner self, she drove her claws into his side and latched onto his mouth with hers, swallowing his surprised cry and then pushing a stream of her dissolved particles down his throat. The wolf choked and coughed, bucking against her iron grip as she drained him of his youki, drawing it in through the wispy tendrils that burrowed into his stomach and lungs. His struggles magnified in intensity as his weight decreased, his skin beginning to wrinkle and darken like a raisin in the sun. Only partially transformed, she dug her nails deeper into his withering flesh and pressed him against her body.

Pain exploded behind the backs of her eyes as the little voice in her head became a shrieking, clawing banshee. Stunned by the assault from within, she flung her head back and screamed, loosing her connection to the wolf and dropping his desiccated body. Staggering drunkenly to the side, bloodied claws clutching her head as she shook it vigorously, she howled in agony as the incorporeal parts of her body reformed and slammed into the back of her throat. Her sight bled red, as if her very brain had been shredded by the voice frantically protesting within, and her breath lodged in her lungs. Blind, choking and in excruciating pain, she collapsed, unconscious, in the grass.

Kagome woke to the most terrible headache she could ever remember having. The entire Rose Parade, complete with giant floats, marching bands, and those old guys in tasseled hats driving miniature cars, was parading around and around the inside of her skull. She even had her own commentator, though it was shouting things like, "Get up, we're in the open!" instead of, "Wow Bryan, the Rose Queen has outrageously purple hair!"

Groaning, and then wincing when the slight effort of making that sound triggered a wave of nausea, Kagome cracked open an eye and was more than a little unnerved to see a bright, moonlit night screened by a curtain of purple hair. She squeezed the eye shut and took an easy, shallow breath through her mouth, trying to ignore the cloying sweetness that coated her tongue. Convince that she wasn't going to throw up, at least not at the moment, she let it out through her nose and opened both eyes.

'It wasn't a dream,' she thought despondently as she watched the grass waving in the cool night breeze. '…but so vague.' She clearly remembered the strange youkai female who had bewitched Inuyasha and Miroku and her subsequent fall from the cliff, but the rest of it was a blur. An uneasy tightening of her chest and brief impressions of familiar faces and wildly new sensations gave her the feeling that she didn't really want to know. At the very forefront stood Kouga, writhing in agony under her lips, and she sat up with a strangled gasp, pushing purple hair out of her eyes.

"Oh no, Kouga!" squinting her eyes against the pain in her head, she scanned the trampled grass for her friend and almost gagged when she saw him. Like an untidy pile of kindling, the once-proud wolf lay huddled on the ground, leathery skin hanging off a thin, bony frame. His heart fluttered weakly and his chest rose almost imperceptibly with each labored breath. Stretching out a timid hand, Kagome gently touched his face with bloodied fingertips. He flinched from her touch and groaned, a sickly rattling sound. Snatching her hand away and wiping them both on her pants, she whimpered quietly. She had a fairly good guess as to whose blood it was.

"I did this to you. Kouga, I'm so sorry," she whispered to his broken form, tears leaking from her eyes to leave sugared paths on her cheeks. How, she didn't know, but she had reduced her trusted friend to this state. Once again, she tried to caress his brow, only to be met with a feeble snarl.

Sobbing quietly, she backed away, reluctantly at first, and then faster as she gave into the echo in her head to run quickly back to her shelter. Finally, she turned and fled, feet skimming the uneven mountain terrain as if she'd been born to do it, trying to out run the pathetic image of Kouga that wallowed in her mind.

'I almost killed Kouga! What else have I done?' she thought as she raced down the mountain, ignoring a bizarre urge to return to a dank, dark carven further up the incline.

Sesshomaru's face was most prominent in her mind, up close and more personal than she'd ever been with the taiyoukai. Blood stained most of these glimpses into her memory, hunger and pleasure twining about them like his fluffy boa. They scared her, almost as much as Kouga's wasted body, and she wondered if she had hurt him, too. For the most part, Inuyasha was strangely absent, and this frightened her the most.

It wasn't until she'd skidded to a stop at the edge of a tall bluff overlooking a dark, sprawling village that she realized that she hadn't sensed Kouga's jewel shards. Her bottle of shards was still suspended from its dainty chain around her neck, but the kakera within were a clouded, dusky pink and eerily silent. Whimpering quietly to herself, she tucked the bottle back into her kimono…then got a good look at what she was wearing.

A classic miko's uniform: white kimono tucked into crimson hakama that bloused over her legs. Though she could have acquired it anywhere, a cold coil of dread and a fleeting impression of clammy, serpentine youkai and a pair of sorrowful brown eyes belied the idea that it had come without a price.

They had struggled so hard to help the priestess overcome the bitterness and hatred to which she had been reborn. Though still cold and emotionally withdrawn, even from the hanyou that never failed to prove his love, Kikyou had become an uneasy ally against Naraku. Perhaps not fighting by their side, but fighting on the same side for the same goals. Kagome had rescued her from destruction twice, not gaining a word of thanks but perhaps earning a grudging respect. And now, in her heart of heats, Kagome knew that she was responsible for Kikyou's second fall into hell. Not Naraku, or even an enemy, but her own reincarnation had taken her life.

Falling to her red-clad knees, choking on the sobs that wracked her slender frame, Kagome cried for her incarnate and cried for herself, both forever changed with no hope of going back to what they had been. Chill fingers of despair plucked at her brain and wrapped around her heart, squeezing and freezing the muscle into leaden ice.

Insistent and growing more bothersome, an impulse to move away from her exposed position broke her out of the spiral of depression into which she was falling. But where could she go, what could she do? Returning to Inuyasha after killing Kikyou was impossible; she would never be able to look him in the eye after murdering his love. Human born, now youkai, her miko powers were gone and she would never be welcome as a shrine maiden as Kikyou had: she wasn't even sure if she could pass for human. She didn't have the skills to live alone in the wild and though her new instincts whispered advice and information into her ear, she despised them for what they had already made her do and pushed them aside.

With a long, shuddering sigh, she decided that the village was probably her best bet. If she could find something to cover her hair so that she wasn't tossed out on her butt the moment she showed her face, or worse yet, attacked by a mob of townspeople, then maybe she would have a chance to show the villagers that she wasn't the evil sort of youkai. She decided to leave the question of what she would do once she got there for later.

Kagome froze, her fingertips touching her lips, the sensations magnified such that the delicate pads felt each wrinkle and crease in her lips just as her lips mapped the whorls and ridges of her fingerprints. She had thought of herself as youkai, as if she were used to the idea already. How long had she been like this?

Once again, she looked down at herself, past the clothes to her body. Claws, yes. Her tongue made a quick exploration of her mouth. Fangs, yes. Delicate points had replaced the rounded curve of her ears. Twirling a long lock of silky hair around one clawed finger, she confirmed that though there shouldn't have been enough light for her to see, she could clearly distinguish that her hair was, indeed, a rich eggplant. It had never been one of her favorite colors. A quick pat down of the rest of her body revealed no strange growths, such as a tail or wings or tentacles or kami-knew-what that youkai sometimes sprouted. She was a bit thicker about the midsection, giving her a small potbelly, and Kagome growled at the presence at the back of her mind. The least it could have done, while hijacking and running wild in her body, was to keep her figure trim.

Huffing in irritation and though her blood raged against it with an almost physical unwillingness, she searched out a narrow trail that cut through the sheer wall of the bluff and stumbled down it. At least, she thought she should be stumbling, but her footing was as magically sure and steady as it had once been prone to finding protruding roots and rocks. In fact, by the time she reached the bottom of the bluff with a graceful leap ten feet through the air, she was quite certain that she would have broken her neck several times over in her previous life on that same climb.

'There, a silver lining,' Kagome congratulated herself for thinking optimistically. With a spark of hope in her heart that things weren't quite as bad as they seemed, she seated herself against the wall of the cliff, squirming until she was somewhat comfortable. Though the tall torches placed on either side of the village gates burned brightly in the night, seeming to welcome her back to civilization, she knew that few villages in the Feudal Era allowed travelers in after dark.

So be it: she would wait until morning.


End file.
